Dead or Alive

Good day 3 reef:
I just got 125 lbs. of rock from a fellow worker. He got rid of his tank that was salt water, he had the rocks in 5 gallon pails with no water in it he said they were sitting around for about three weeks. does this mean that the rocks are dead, or can they be put back into salt water to bring them back to life?

 

They can be brought back, they will cause a huge cycle in any tank you add them to thou

 

I have three plastic 55 gallon drums will this do?

 

You might possibly add them slowly over time. 1 or 2 a month wouldnt affect your tank as much as adding all of them....I think. I would imagine it depends on the size of tank you have currently, and how long you have had it. I add 4 pounds to my sump every few weeks as I frag things and go throurgh lots of rock. I constantly check my water params and so far it has worked out well.

 

yup make sure you have a heater and power heads in them as well

 

If the rocks were sitting in a bucket with no water for 3 weeks then mostly everything is dead and other bacteria has begun to form. DO NOT PUT IN YOUR TANK. If I were you I would either soak and cure for weeks, or the easy way....Bleach! Bleach em. That will kill any life that has formed in the 3 weeks and almost disintegrate the dead organics. The rock will be ready to place in a tank within days not weeks.